Windows in the residential, commercial and recreational vehicle markets need to provide low weight and high rigidity designs at low cost. In order to maintain manufacturing costs at an acceptable level while reaching the desired technical requirements, window frames provided in the art are often made of vinyl or aluminum extrusions.
Extrusions are straight material members with a precisely shaped section. State of the art techniques are used to cut and bend the extrusion such that a predetermined periphery is obtained. The bending process is time consuming and often requires dedicated machines and tooling. Since bending extrusions is a process having high tolerances, the final result is likely to vary. Bended extrusions falling outside acceptable tolerances cannot be used and are considered lost products to be recycled. It is not unusual to observe a high ratio of bended extrusions falling outside the acceptable tolerances.
Beside bent structures, other structures are found such as structures using short extrusion sections, machined and assembled with screws and other fasteners.
A variety of window types, in various sizes, are available on the market to meet customers' demand. Push out windows, vertical and horizontal sliding windows, amongst others, are fitted in a frame. Once installed, the frame supports the window and makes the junction between the surrounding wall and the window itself.
Each type of window has its own size and requests specific frame dimensions. The peripheral size varies in addition to the thickness of the window. As a result, window manufacturers must design a variety of frame types and develop extrusion tooling to accommodate a number of window types. Additionally, window manufacturers need to keep in stock a significant number of extrusions in order to meet customers' demand in a reasonable period of time. This necessitates significant floor space and may become a burden to manage. Moreover, bended-extrusion frames are cumbersome to transport, since, once bended, a frame has its final size and cannot be disassembled for transport. The shipping costs are increased given the significant volume of the frame.
The present invention seeks to meet these needs and other needs.